Paper parachute



Oct. 15, 1946. JD. B. HASTINGS J 2 409,562 PAPER PARACHl ITE Filec iDec. 4, 1943 1 V MP1 "5' If Patented Oct. 15, 1946 PAPER PARACHUTE Dana13. Hastings, Framingham, Mass, assignor to Dennison ManufacturingCompany, Framingham, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationDecember 4, 1943, Serial No. 512,854

' In the art of aeronautics it is often desirable to drop articles ofvarious kinds by parachute, and intime of war there is of (:ourse fargreater need for such practice, particularly for dropping food and othersupplies to service men in inaccessible places. However, the practicehas been greatly restricted heretofore by the cost of parachutes. It hasbeen proposed to make parachutes of paper but they have not been verysatisfactory. While it is possible to make paper parachutes which,except for the shock of opening, are strong enough to carry fairly heavyloads, heretofore it has not been possible to make them withstand theshock of opening when heavily loaded.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a parachute which isinexpensive in construotion, which carries heavy loads, which withstandsthe shock of opening when carrying heavy loads, which requires onlymaterials which are cheap and plentiful, which can be manufacturedrapidly and economically, and which is reliable in operation.

According to the present invention the parachute comprises a papercanopy having one or more sections of open-mesh material, the ratio ofmaterial to paper being high enough substantially to vent the canopywhereby the shock of opening is relieved sufficiently to avoid damage tothe paper. Preferably the section or'sectioris of open-mesh materialextend circumferentially of the canopy intermediate itscen ter andperiph ery and they alternate with the sections of paper. Forreinforcement a circumferential tape may be secured to the adjacentedges of the paper and open-mesh material. In the preferred embodimenteach paper section comprises a plurality of segments of crepe paperhaving the creping extending radially of the canopy, the adjoiningmargins of the segments being disposed in abutting relationship, withradial tapes secured to the abutting margins and having extensionsextending below the bottom edge of the canopy for at- Claims. *(Cl.244-445) tachment to supporting cords, the radial tapes Figs. 3 to 6inclusive are sections on lines 33 to 6-6 of Fig. 1 respectively. Theparticular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration comprises three paper sections l, 2 and 3 and two openrneshsections 4 and 5'. Preferably the paper sections are made of crepedkraft paper with the creping extending radially of the canopy and theopen-mesh sections are made of strong netting. Each of the papersections is made up of a plurality of radial segments and, while theopenmesh sections may be in the form of a continuous strip extendingcontinuously around the canopy, they too are preferably made in segmentswhose widths correspond to those of the paper segments. As indicated inFigs. 1 and 2 the segments are preferably tapered towards the middle andthey are graduated in width so that the ccrrespcnding edges of segmentsof the different sections are in alignment radially of the canopy. Thusthe segments 6, l, 8, 9 and H of sections 5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively,together form a complete segment extending from the periphery of thecanopy all the way to the central opening H. As shown in Fig. 4 theadjacent edges of the segments are turned outwardly into abuttinrelationship and a radial tape it is stitched over the outturnedmargins. Thus the radial tapes interconnect the segments of each of thesections 1 to 5 inclusive. As shownin Fig. ,3 the lower margin of thecanopy is protected by a tape [4 folded over the edge. and stitchedthereto. This edge is also preferably reinforced by a second tape .15stitched along the outer margin of the canopy. Thenpper edge is ofthecanopy may be similarly reinforced. As'shown in Fig. 5 the edges ofthe sections overlap and are reinforced by tapes ll. The paper sectionsmay also be reinforced intermediate their upper and lower edges. Thusthe upper and lower sections l and 3 are reinforced by tapes l3 and 59.When the radial tapes [2 are applied before the circumferential tapes12, I4, [5, ll, [8 and IS, the outwardly projecting radial seams (Fig.i) are folded over at the intersections with the circumferential tapes.While the tapes may be formed of any suitable material the preferredembodiment comprises nylon for I2, I8 and i9, cotton for It and webbingfor IS. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the radial tapes l2 preferably haveextensions 20 for attachment to the supporting cord 2|. Theintersectingradial and circumferential tapes may be reinforced by bartacks extending through the intersections, this being particularlydesirable at the intersections of the tapes I 2 with the tapes l5.

in the manufacture of the parachute the preferred order of procedure isas follows. The radial edges of the segments of all the sections arefirst secured together with the radial tapes l2. Then thecircumferential tapes are applied over the radial tapes. While theoverlapping edges of the various parts may be secured together and tothe tapes with waterproof cement, as illustrated in the drawing they arepreferably secured together by stitching. By constructing a paperparachute as above described it may be dropped with a much heavier loadwithout being damaged by the shock of opening, the air escaping throughthe central opening H and through the open-mesh sections 4 and 5 so thatthe drop is checked gradually instead of abruptly.

As shown in Fig. 2 the segments may be folded back and forth accordionfashion and, if desired, the folded segments may be folded lengthwise atthe open-mesh sections, thereby forming a compact bundle.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

I. A parachute comprising an approximately hemispheroidal canopy havinga plurality of circumferential sections of crepe paper and acircumferential section of open mesh fabric interposed between the crepepaper sections, the ratio of the open mesh material to crepe paper beinghi h enough substantially to vent the canopy, each paper sectionconsisting of a plurality of expansible segments having their crepingextending radially of said canopy, and a plurality of tapes extendingradially and circumferentially of said canopy, said tapes being securedto the margins of said paper segments.

2. A parachute comprising an approximately hemispheroidal canopy havinga plurality of circumferential sections of crepe paper and acircumferential section of open mesh fabric interposed between the crepepaper sections, the ratio of the open mesh material to crepe paper beinghigh enough substantially to vent the canopy, each paper sectionconsisting of a plurality of expansible segments having their crepingextending radially of said canopy, the adjacent radial margins of saidsegments being bent into abutting relationship with each other, and aplurality of tapes extending radially and circumferentially of saidcanopy, the radial tapes being secured to the abutting margins of saidsegments and extending continuously across the open mesh material.

3. A parachute comprising an approximately hemispheroidal canopy havinga plurality of circumferential sections of crepe paper and acircumferential section of open mesh fabric interposed between the crepepaper sections, the ratio of the open mesh material to crepe paper beinghigh enough substantially to vent the canopy, each paper sectionconsisting of a plurality of expansible segments having their crepingextending radially of said canopy, each fabric section consisting of acontinuous length of material, and a plurality of tapes extendingradially and circumferentially of said canopy, said tapes being securedtogether at their crossing points, the radial tapes being secured to theradial marginal portions of said paper sections and the circumferentialtapes being secured to the circumferential marginal portions of both theopen mesh and crepe paper sections.

4. A parachute comprising an approximately hemispheroidal canopy havinga plurality of circumferential sections of crepe paper and acircumferential section of open mesh fabric interposed between the crepepaper sections, the ratio of the open mesh material to crepe paper beinghigh enough substantially to vent the canopy, each paper sectionconsisting of a plurality of expansible segments having their crepingextending radially of said canopy, the adjacent radial margins of saidsegments being bent into abutting relation with each other and theircircumferentially extending margins overlapping the margins of said openmesh section, and a plurality of tapes extending radially andcircumferentially of said canopy, the radial tapes being secured to theabutting margins of said paper seg ments and the circumferential tapesbeing secured to the overlapping portions of the crepe paper and openmesh sections.

5. A parachute comprising an approximately hemispheroidal canopy havinga plurality of circumferential sections of crepe paper and acircumferential section of open mesh fabric interposed between the crepepaper sections, the ratio of the open mesh material to crepe paper beinghigh enough substantially to Vent the canopy, each paper sectionconsisting of a plurality of expansible segments having their crepingextending radially of said canopy, and a plurality of tapes extendingradially and circumferentially of said canopy, said tapes being securedto the margins of said paper segments, and a plurality of shroud linessecured to the outer end portions of the radial tapes.

DANA B. HASTINGS.

